#and a lot of people find themselves put off

[bruh-myguy-what]

Lovestruck

Pairing: Tech x Fem!Reader Requested by: @baddest-batchers Warnings: Massive fluff, I think I actually cried writing this?, I've not been handling the season finale well because I miss Tech a considerable amount, pining for reader from Tech's perspective, a lot of adorable emotions from our usually pragmatic boy Word Count: 2K Summary: While fixing the Marauder with you, Tech reflects on his feelings and he's completely enamored by you. A/N: I'm not handling Tech's death well. Whether it's his death or his just being CX-2, I don't really care, I miss him so desperately and this fic healed so many parts of my heart even though I actually wept while writing. I love that you requested this, friend! I hope it's exactly what you were looking for (or at least close!) and I absolutely agree, this was indeed a Tech prompt. All of these requests have been so wonderful and I cannot express how much it means that people like my writing enough to send in requests! Thanks guys!

Requests are open if you have anything you'd like to send in!

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It was an ordinary affair for you and Tech to work on the repairs for the Marauder simultaneously. There were consistent restorations that needed to be made and things to be updated, so having another experienced individual helped jog said matters along. Though the clone was hesitant at first, after months of rapport building, he was grateful.

Not only was he finding himself appreciative for the extra set of hands, but Tech discovered that he was quite enjoying your company. You were clever, agreeable, and understanding, along with that you seemed to always find his endless wealth of knowledge pleasant. The accurate way you managed the repairs of his ship, first by managing his hesitancy well and then demonstrating consideration for his methods before ever handling something he cared so much about, really surprised him. Your approach to his usually off-putting demeanor was a welcomed change in his life and the way you subtly encouraged him appeared to warm his heart in a way he hadn't previously encountered.

He'd found that his eyes lingered on you from afar longer than he realized, only noticing that he'd been staring when you'd look over and smile at him sweetly. The light in your eyes, whenever you'd smile at him, twinkled so effortlessly, almost as if there had been stars placed directly behind them solely to enchant him.

It was as if you were another creature entirely, one he'd never analyzed, one he knew nothing about- because everything you did fascinated him. All the ways in which you carried yourself, laughed with his brothers, tended to Omega, your wit, the charm you retained...it all was remarkable to him. He began to notice himself craving your attention. Tech dreamed of you laughing for him, smiling at him, every moment he was awake you invaded his thoughts.

So to have you crouched down beneath the hull of the Marauder, handing him parts and tools for repairs made him impossibly delighted. This was a life he could get used to, for a long time. The ability to bond with you- and only you- in this way for the rest of his short life, he would fight for it, no matter the threat. If this was what life could be for him after he and his brothers no longer needed to fight, he would be far and beyond content. He'd feel whole.

"The spanner now, please," Tech's smooth tone echoed back to him from off the metal hull.

Taking a moment to grab the tool, you placed it squarely in his hand, "Of course." Your voice was sweet as ever to his ears, the sensation of your fingers grazing his gloved palm sending tides of bliss to his heart. How he desired to remove his gloves to truly discern how your hand might feel in his. Odd thought, he knew, though nevertheless one he often had run through his mind. Other equivalent ones situated themselves among his standard reflections; such as how your cheeks might feel cradled in his palm, or how your eyes might sparkle even more at his displays of affection toward you.

These introspective ideas were not ones he had been programmed with, he understood that very well, but then again wasn't that the whole point of him and his brothers? They weren't droids. Even with protocol and planned executions, wasn't the beautiful part of having your own identity the potential for...emotion? Sentiments?

Love?

The brilliant clone pondered these notions for many hours during hyperspace travels, staring endlessly into the streaking atmosphere while everyone else lay in their bunks asleep. Upon his further analysis and pensive state, he conceded that he did, indeed, love you. Even though he expected it to never be possible, for him anyhow, it clearly was. And there it was, staring up at him with stunning eyes and an adorable smile- all wrapped up in one woman who waited for further instruction to aid his work.

"Whatcha smiling at, silly?" A giggle brought him out of his reverie and he cleared his throat, handing the spanner back to you while muttering a quick 'my apologies'. "It's no big deal, you know I don't mind," another soft chuckle at his sudden behavior change. "Just curious what has you in such a good mood lately. You never smile this much- not that I'm complaining, of course. You look happy and I like that, it suits you." The smile he watched spread across your lips brightened your eyes so preciously that Tech felt as if his heart were going to lock up. You were absolutely breathtaking in the setting sunlight, the warm glow radiating your beauty.

It wasn't too long after your comment that he acknowledged he'd been staring once again. Tech blinked a few times, regaining his composure- sure to remember the planet's rotation cycle so he could bring you out into the setting sun one more time before leaving so he could truly memorize the way you looked in such a spectacular site. "I suppose it would be an alarming circumstance to see my sudden change in attitude if you are accustomed to my rather pragmatic and steadfast manner." He spoke slowly, trying to gauge his words carefully, looking back up at the repairs he was currently working on.

To say he was usually practical was an understatement and even he knew that, but he continued nevertheless- "Screwdriver, please."

A quick hum in reply from you and the tool was now in his hand, his heart buzzing at your lingering touch, making certain he had hold of the screwdriver before pulling away. "Though," Tech found himself speaking before he realized, hesitating after the word left his mouth.

Should he continue? Would you be uneasy at any admission of his affection, or even just simple favor, toward you?

He found himself suddenly apprehensive at the possibility that he could ruin the favorable conditions he'd found for himself with you. But with your reassuring voice, you spoke his worrying thoughts away, "though, what? Got too many thoughts running around that extraordinary mind of yours to just pick one?" The pleasantness in your prodding had a warm smile of his own spreading across his lips now while he worked against a stubborn bolt.

"Only a few at this very moment, so it would appear, mesh'la." Tech's reply was soft, soft enough that he thought only he'd heard himself until you stood beside him now. He glanced to see your head tilted with ever lovely, inquisitive eyes prompting him to continue his outspoken thought. Realigning his eyes to the bolt, Tech licked his lips anxiously, "Ah, I must have spoken aloud without realizing." He clarified softly, a burning sensation rising to his cheeks.

"Well now you gotta continue," you teased with a smile, "It's not every day that your genius mind only has a few thoughts in it to speak of."

Tech knew he was skating near a precarious edge, but the more you gazed at him expectantly, the less he cared and only desired for you to continue your total obliteration of his typical sensible behaviors. Taking a deep breath, the enhanced clone steadied himself before expressing, "At present, I have found that my foremost thoughts are exclusively about you. During the maturing of our relationship these last few months, it would seem that less and less of my thoughts are as constructive as they had been prior to our closeness, as troubling as that may sound." At your silence, Tech chanced lowering his arms to stand before you unimpeded by work, attention entirely yours.

The rise of your brows and the slight part in your lips made his heart thud painfully against his chest. Though, he noticed the sparkle in your eyes hadn't dissipated, perhaps he wasn't ruining anything as he thought he had been. "I am mindful that it may come across as peculiar, or eccentric, for me to have said that," Tech began cautiously, calculating your evolving expression. "Nevertheless, it is the truth. I...find you to be the most compelling woman that I have personally had the fortune of knowing. You are quite literally the only part of my life that I find myself frequently enchanted by." As he spoke, Tech found it easier to alleviate himself of the mountain of praises he'd been repeatedly considering when in your presence. He discovered he could continue voicing your worth, just as he could gaze at your beautiful face for an indefinable amount of time if only you'd allow him.

In the face of your silence, Tech cleared his throat once again to calm himself of his growing concern. "Though I'm aware of my capacity to express thoughts without stopping, I must say that your added input on this matter would prevent the inclination of my elevating heart rate."

"Tech..." The way his name left your lips did the contrary of what he had just requested, scrambling his heart rate instead. Tenderness touched the curve of your lips as you stepped forward close to him, directly into the space he usually reserved for only himself until he saw how much more exquisite you were when he had the opportunity to look down at you. This close he could see every mark, every small scar, the way the color of your eyes shifted as they glanced back and forth around his face.

"Stars," he breathed, "you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, mesh'la..." Tech muttered to himself in wonderment. As if no barrier had ever existed between you, Tech reached out to caress your face, marveling at how you reacted by pressing your cheek further into his touch. "If you were to provide me the honor of showing you my devotion, I would be certain to surpass any expectations you may put forth." Spellbound by the intimacy he'd found himself in with you, Tech longed for more. He yearned to feel the softness of your cheek on his skin, not through his filthy gloves. The way you deserved to be admired was wholly and profoundly, without any impediments. As his eyes danced between yours and the way your smile began to fade, Tech brushed his thumb along your cheek, cursing his GAR regulation blacks. You'd hardly said a word other than the sweet whisper of his name before you approached him, and even if this instance was all he'd ever receive from you, he'd relive the memory a hundred times over. Though he worried he'd said too much again.

Or maybe you were as entranced as he was, presently. "My dear, I don't mean to ruin this moment, however, I-" and before he could finish speaking you'd surged upward toward him, pressing your lips against his.

Astonishment rushed through the normally sharp clone as he felt the weight of your body pressed against his chest plate. After only a moment, though, Tech reacted- refusing to squander his opportunity to kiss you as he had dreamt many times over.

Wrapping his arms around your smaller figure, one hand came to rest between your shoulders and the other cradled your head affectionately, holding you as close as he could possibly have you. The plush of your lips brushed so flawlessly against his as he admired the softness they possessed. Tech knew upon impact that he would never tire of this, of the ability to hold you as he was, nor his newfound gift to kiss you.

You pulled away all too soon for his liking, the sigh escaping his lips sounding as pathetic to him as he was sure it sounded to you. Your smile was even more gorgeous than he'd seen it yet, though he was sure it was due to the recent discovery of just how incredible your smile tasted against his lips. Tech debated whether he should move at all for fear of you slipping away even sooner, but relented to adjust his goggles, matching your smile. "I believe that is a sufficient response to my yet posed question."

With yet another unpredictable act, you cuddled closer into his space, folding your arms in between your chest and his, and tucked your face into his neck. "I'll be happy to answer any others you may have with the same reply, whenever you need, handsome." You replied with a soft laugh.

Encompassing you once again within his embrace, Tech felt his cheeks warming, noting how the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon and he knew couldn't blame that for his reddened face. His breathy chuckle rumbled against his chest plate, "I shall keep that at the forefront of my thoughts."

#star wars #the bad batch #tech #tbb tech #tech bad batch #tbb #tech x reader #tech x fem!reader #x female reader #x fem!reader #x reader fanfiction #x female y/n #tech is so beautiful #tech fanfiction #tech fanfic #tech fluff #tech bad batch fic #the bad batch fanfiction #tech girlie #tech stan #tech request #fic writing #bruhwhat stories #clone wars fanfic #clone trooper #ct 9902 #clone trooper tech #clone 99002 #clone trooper 9902 #tcw

[fandomlurker333]

A lot of people are screaming throuple and just writing the porn (which I get! It’s fun!). But reading them come is not enough for me. lol Toxicity is hot until it’s just damaging and sad for everyone. I want real happiness for these three weirdos.

The end of the film was meant to be the very beginning of something. Just the spark of an idea of them coming back to one another. But the real work starts after. 

And I think it would probably be a step-by-step thing. 

I can see Patrick and Art working to draw closer, with that strong foundation of their childhoods to build off of. Obviously having to resolve the hurt that so much time and distance caused them, and both being willing to forgive. But it’s clear at the end of the film that the door is open for that. They grew up together. There’s a real root of knowing that I think could carry them through the toughest parts early on. Their relationship evolving feels possible.

And Tashi and Art’s marriage would find some breathing room and maybe even some renewed delight for having Patrick present and loving on them both. Kinda seeing each other again through his eyes type thing. Remembering they’re more than who they have been to each other for over a decade (both operating in one mode to survive, never quite enough for each other -- not totally fulfilled and not appreciated in their fullness).

I don’t think Patrick and Tashi would be having sex at this point, but I can see like….tennis dates where they bicker. Just them all learning how to be in each other’s space for extended periods of time and enjoy it.

And maybe Art wouldn’t resent Tashi so much for not being able to give him everything (so much has been taken from her — she just doesn’t have all that much left. She’s been doing her best.) and maybe Tashi would feel more at peace seeing them play each other and knowing Art is really loving tennis, not just playing for her. Connecting with them both in that space and finding joy in tennis again, so it’s not just routine and pain and loss for her.

With that healing happening concurrently (with therapists as support, of course), I think they’d get far. And then once those relationships are more secure, once Art and Tashi learn how they relate to each other when he isn’t winning for her (which would be something new. They don’t know what that looks like yet!) then Patrick and Tashi, having learned way more about themselves in relationship and how to communicate, might start working on their side of the triangle lol. 

I could see them all exploring and working out the intimacy over time — not just sex, but intimacy -- what do they each need and how do they need it? And kink too, the various ways they each want/need to give or receive so they all feel truly satisfied.

And of course they’ll be partners co-parenting. All of them.

I can see Tashi finally grieving her injury, the life she lost, and rediscovering her love of tennis, not to win, but for the joy of being on the court. Her sobs the first time she plays again and it’s not competitively, just a little volley, but it’s like she’s finally alive again. Reminding herself she’s a leader in tennis the space still, that she can build success in that world even without Art’s career, but maybe it looks different. I see a healed Tashi learning to enjoy teaching kids. Taking on more protege. And letting Art and Patrick come help at her tennis camps. 

Art retiring like he said he wanted, running the foundation as Tashi steps back. Realizing that he’s actually pretty good at this business thing and going back to school for a Master’s in nonprofit leadership. Meeting new people. Making friends (that aren’t Patrick). Getting invited to a pottery class and seeing he loves to work with his hands. Playing tennis with Patrick on the weekends.

And my heart for stay-at-home dad Patrick. Who always forgets to change over the laundry and leaves his keys everywhere and puts the babies' shoes on the wrong feet. But my god he loves those kids so goddamn much. Patrick learning to cook for the family and getting really good at it like he does anything he hyper-focuses on. Patrick finally having a home with the two people he loves most and figuring out how to create some routine and stability for himself within that container.

The love in that home. Ugh. I think it’s possible! I think they can do it! It just takes work. 

#challengers #a TRUE throuple #patrick zweig #tashi duncan #art donaldson #I need a fic that does THIS #Cause the fucking is the easy part #artrick #patrick x tashi #tashi x art #artashi #art x patrick x tashi #ot3 #if tashi and patrick could actually communicate #and if art and tashi figure out their shit furreal #musings

[merbear25]

Playing with fire (Yandere! Caesar x Yandere! fem!reader)

So many had been chased away by the intensity of your adoration, leaving you broken-hearted time and time again. When you started your new semester, you found yourself enchanted by the passion that radiated off the professor. With such charm pulling you in, your old obsessive habits resurfaced, only this time your love interest appeared to be more…deranged than the others.

a/n: Caesar gives off yandere vibes, and it’s one of many things I find fascinating about him. I personally envision the reader getting her Master’s or PhD, but no age is mentioned.

CW: NSFW! MDNI! Yandere themes (stalking, possessiveness, obsessiveness), University AU, some angst, rough sex, vaginal penetration, facial.

Mending your heart took a lot out of you; the mental exhaustion of having to put together the scattered pieces each time someone shattered it was taking its toll. With so many practically fleeing from your love, you regrettably tried to fix yourself, thinking that if you were more normal, you’d finally have your love reciprocated. Despite taking such actions for what everyone labeled as self-improvement, it felt as if you were losing a part of yourself. Would you really have to change how you loved in order to be loved?

Sitting in the lecture hall, you tapped your pen against your notebook waiting for the beginning of the semester to officially start. With the clock ticking into position, the professor made his grand entrance right on time. While the others continued talking amongst themselves, your eyes were fixated on him. The long, wild hair, his intense golden eyes and the way he held himself with such confidence, all of which were a recipe to destroy the progress you’d been making.

A familiar feeling burned inside you the longer the class went on. His charismatic deliveries on each piece of information coupled with the passion he had for his subject were sedatives, numbing you to the dangers you were surely going to be thrown into.

Upon dismissal, the others were gathering their belongings, filing out of the lecture hall, yet you remained in your seat. Infatuation left you blind and deaf to what was happening around you. Only when his gaze fell on you and a smirk stretched his purple lips was your trance broken. Flustered and embarrassed about getting caught leering at him, you fumbled with your things and left as quickly as possible—the heat of your blush searing your cheeks. His eyes followed you all the way out those doors and a faint chuckle chased after you.

As the semester progressed, your desires for him had only escalated: keeping track of where he went, his personal habits, who he spoke to, how often he spoke to them, how long he kept people in office. Fighting against your paranoia was a losing battle. You fretted that these other students and colleagues of his were somehow more favored than you, despite you being at the top of the class—even having you forget about the small bits of praise he gave you all while flashing you that bewitching smile of his.

Why did so many have to talk to him? Because he was the head of his department. Okay, but why did he have to keep them in his office for so long? Your mind scattered to all of the possibilities, each one more soul-crushing than the last. Peering around the corner, your malice burrowed into whoever came out of that room. Anticipating him to pivot, your old habit to snake away behind your barrier took over.

Working on assignments was a fine way of passing the time. You knew he parked on the other side of the building, so it was easy to relax in this sense of security you’d cushioned yourself with. However, with comfort comes slip ups.

Satisfied with what you’d done for your class with him, you closed your notebook. “Please tell me you plan on revising those.” That same alluring voice from just moments ago was now in your ear.

Being caught off guard, you were at a loss for words. All you managed was to squeak out an ‘of course’.

Placing his hand on the backrest of the bench, he leaned down, forcing your heart to pound furiously against your ribcage. “I have a fun idea. Would you like to come with me?”

Such a curious invitation left you hypnotized, having you nodding and obediently following him out to his car. Momentarily halting at the surprise that this involved leaving campus, he was ready with reassurance, “It’ll be worth it. I promise. Just get in.”

A slight twinge of uncertainty was easily overshadowed by your unchaste self-involvement with him. Pleased with how compliant you were only whetted his appetite for what he had planned.

Willingly following him over the threshold of his home, he was sure to lock the door as he projected his voice across the room to you, muffling any signal to panic.

Only half listening to him, you followed the line of photos he had hanging up on his walls. Each one showcasing his achievements, aiding your admiration in him.

“You know, you have a promising future in your field, too,” there was a sincerity to his compliment. When you turned to face him, you suddenly felt bites of bashfulness prickling your cheeks.

He sighed with a hint of affection. “Such a winsome look for one who’s hiding some dirty secrets.”

“What do you mean?” Your faltering tone failed to convince him of your innocence.

Humming in amusement of having successfully called you out on your suspicious character, he used it as a segue to the main course, “You know exactly what I mean.”

His longing became more persistent, itching for him to push forward. “Have you any idea why I brought you here? You would’ve been too loud. I can see it on your face—you’re a screamer.”

Seduction dripped with each word, glazing you with just the right amount for consumption. Your look batted between his eyes and lips while he closed the gap between you. You nodded and enticed him. “Let’s gorge ourselves then, shall we?”

Feeling like his intensity was being met, you were pulled into his arms and forceful lips crashed into yours, desperation to satiate this yearning pouring out of them.

Getting caught in his whirlwind of passion, you wanted to ground yourself for a moment, “W-wait.” You gasped.

Frowning at your sign of resistance, he reminded you of your concerning behavior towards him, “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? What you’ve been after?”

Worrying you’d miss your chance at finally having a partner who’d relish in your intensity, you admitted to this being something that before you’d only dreamed of.

“Then don’t you dare take it away from me,” his words sounded more like a threat but worked wonders on your deluded idea of romance.

Your place in this hyper-sexualized indulgence was made crystal clear: you were to be used as he pleased. Being tossed around by someone who was swelling with as much desire for you as you had for them was a godsend. It led you to believe you would never again have to hide such a disturbing love from him.

Slapping yourself up and down on his now utterly soaked length, your moans filled the room. He ran his hand up your enticing neck, settling it at the back of your head. He huffed from the constant berating on his senses, “It seems that your siren calls have entangled me.”

With a sly grin, he tugged on your hair, forcing your head back and exposing your neck to his hungry fixation. Your breasts frantically keeping the pace of his thrusts was keeping him mesmerized. Licking and suckling on your tender flesh, your body writhed under his touch, which earned you a guttural groan.

Witnessing tears swell up in your beautiful eyes only provoked his brutality. His ego was being inflated with each shriek and tremble he forced out of you, while you both stood at the cliffs of ecstasy ready to take the plunge into the rough waters below. Letting those waves wash over you, he was close behind.

Tossing you on your back, he roughly grabbed your tear stained face and he commanded, “Open that pretty mouth.” 

Such alluring doe eyes fluttering their long lashes at him brought out his carnal need to mark you as his. With his hand gripping your delicate neck, he grunted upon releasing his own pent-up craving for you, coating you in the sin he’d kept hidden all semester.

His obsession for you dripped down the sides of your face, piquing your want for more from this relationship. As his eyes scanned the work he’d done to you, a satisfied expression painted itself on him. Without having to say anything, there was a mutual understanding that neither of you were going to back down.

#one piece #x reader #one piece x reader #one piece imagine #one piece au #university au #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere x yandere #yandere!reader #one piece x you #op au #op x reader #op x you #one piece smut #caesar clown #one piece caesar clown #caesar x reader #caesar clown x reader

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

I like your blog, we've been mutuals for years. But blogging about the met gala when there are children dying in Gaza? Fuck the met gala and your celebrity worship

at what point have I made it seem like I don't care about/support what's happening in gaza? I don't share a lot about it, but that's because most of what I see have graphic images and videos attached to the posts, and while I understand the thought process behind sharing them to make it seem more real to people, I'm uncomfortable with it because I know that if I was in that situation, vulnerable and injured or dead, I wouldn't want people gawking at me online just so they can pat themselves on the back for 'suffering in solidarity' by making themselves uncomfortable and miserable looking at me. I'm trying to be respectful. I've still reblogged things about gaza though. but honestly, if you've been following me for years, you'd know I'm a pacifist and wouldn't need me to make a statement saying I don't support people being killed. my God, dude.

also, celebrity worship? I can't even tell you who half the people at the met even were. I just like fashion. I post about a bunch of different things on this blog, and you haven't complained about that, so where's the threshold for things people are allowed to enjoy while bad things are happening in the world? fashion is off limits, but doctor who isn't? I can still post about musicals and not support murder, but aesthetic pictures are on par with launching a bomb myself? I truly hate to break it to you, but sharing links on tumblr is not going to fix this situation. denying yourself any shred of entertainment or enjoyment does not give you a moral high ground. what's happening is horrendous, but even if this is somehow magically peacefully solved tomorrow, there will still be other atrocities happening elsewhere in the world. that's unfortunately just how life goes. in no world am I saying we shouldn't care about every single atrocity that happens, I'm just saying if you can't find some time to be happy in your own life just because bad things are happening to others, you will never truly live a life at all. it sucks! but that's how it is. it's like when someone close to you dies, and the first time you laugh after you've started grieving feels like you're betraying them. but you aren't betraying them for continuing to live, just like you aren't betraying anyone else in the world who's suffering just because you don't spend 24/7 thinking and talking about them.

I do truly, genuinely, hope this all comes to a peaceful end, and soon. I'm not naive enough to believe for certain that it will. but I do know, at the end of the day, people are already aware of it. people know what's going on. sharing photos of dead and mutilated babies will not make any difference. you, and I, and everyone else online are not going to personally save gaza. pressure needs to be put on the people who can actually do something to make a change, and they don't care about what's online. arguing with people because you don't perceive them as doing 'enough' isn't going to accomplish anything other than getting them to a point of making them eye roll whenever they see you post, because at the end of the day, unless you're literally a top politician, you are doing the exact same amount to help as someone who reblogs less posts than you. sorry.

#asks #molly mumbles #save our souls #which is my world news tag btw I also put good things in there but I'm also not great at keeping up with it #it's just occuring to me that someone could see me tag like something good 'save our souls' and think I'm against it lol #thatbakedjedi

[ww2yaoi]

Listen I want to be into Webgott because I see all your hype and I’m like obviously it’s great and every time I try I’m like , “eh” about it, like what am I missiiiiing why can’t I get into thiiiiis?

So like. What’s the thing. I think maybe I have a hard time because they’re not bffs but they also aren’t exactly like mortal enemies and I’m having trouble figuring out what the vibe should be.

So anyways if you’ve got something to pitch me the sale I’m all ears.

I won't pitch to you because if something doesn't click, it doesn't click and with ships I feel like you either get it or you don’t, so I'm not gonna try and convince you because I honestly feel like that’s a waste of everyone’s time and would be a lot of effort on my end and like why do I give a fuck if you don’t like it (to be brutally honest). However, I can explain what I do like about it. This is going to be kind of rambly and fractured but whatever.

I guess first and foremost I see them both as very interesting characters in their own right. Joe and Web both hate the Germans, but they joined the war for different reasons. Web wanted to write about it, considering himself a kind of warrior poet. He wanted to be on the ground and experience the war as it happened, in all its honest brutality. He comes from a fairly wealthy family, and goes to an Ivy League school, yet he forwent becoming an officer to be a lowly private and sleep in holes. That’s weird. He’s a bit bizarre for doing that.

Joe, in the show at least, is Jewish. So this is personal to him. He’s fighting because he has to fight, because someone has to kill these Nazis and he’s very much willing to do that. He’s a good soldier for the most part, he doesn’t answer to authority all that well and he’s bloodthirsty to a detriment at times, but he’s extremely loyal to his friends and protective of the group.

Arguably, Web is not that good of a soldier. He doesn’t volunteer for anything. He didn’t break out of the hospital to rejoin his friends. He’s kind of a loner, scribbling in his notebook. He’s intellectual and pretentious and he gets bullied for it. All this culminates in his and Joe’s fraught relationship in The Last Patrol which is kind of the crux of the whole ship. Joe sees the worst in Web, but Web eventually proves himself and is accepted back into the group by Joe. I don’t want to explain the whole episode, you get the point.

All this to say, they’re very different people, of different social strata, and they never would’ve looked twice at each other had the war not happened, which is kind of the hidden beauty of these worldwide conflicts if there is any. The mass mobilization of millions of people under the umbrella of one cause has a sort of equalizing effect where different social groups come together. Joe and Web literally come from opposite coasts. The symbolism is pretty obvious and poignant to me.

Anyways, I guess what appeals to me about Webgott is their similarities and differences and how these dichotomies produce a dynamic with a lot of potential for understanding and misunderstanding. You’re right that they’re not exactly friends and they’re not exactly enemies, but while this seems to put you off this is the whole appeal to me. They exist in this liminal space where they’re constantly feeling each other out and fighting to understand each other and correcting their assumptions of each other. It’s not easy, but there’s a draw there because they’re so inexplicable to one another. They’re mirrors to each other in a lot of ways. They’re both their own people. They both have this complex capacity for love and violence. I see them both as very passionate individuals with a lot of inner turmoil, and I think they could find love and comfort in each other if only they could break down each other’s walls or be brave enough to lower them themselves.

Ships should have conflict to be interesting. There should be some sort of barrier to having the perfect relationship or else the whole objective of storytelling and narrative is a pointless exercise. That gives people something to write about and chew on. And I think with Webgott there’s a lot to chew on.

#making me write long ass essays lord save me #webgott #ask #anonymous

[mariacallous]

The humble tree has long protected humans from sickness and even death—and in the modern city, it’s still doing so. As global temperatures rise, so too does the “urban heat island effect”—the tendency for cities to absorb and hold on to the sun’s energy, which is a growing public-health crisis worldwide. On a small scale, the shade under a single tree is an invaluable refuge on a blisteringly hot day. Scaling that effect up, neighborhoods with more tree cover are measurably cooler.

Now research is showing just what an impact this can have on people’s health. A new paper finds that in Los Angeles, planting more trees and deploying more reflective surfaces—something as simple as painting roofs white—could lower temperatures so dramatically, it’d cut the number of heat-related ER visits by up to 66 percent. That research follows a previous study by the same scientists finding that one in four lives lost during heat waves could be avoided with the same techniques.

As urban populations are rising around the world, so are temperatures, putting ever more people in ever-hotter environments. “We’re primarily urban dwellers at this point,” says UCLA environmental researcher Edith de Guzman, coauthor of both studies and the cofounder and director of the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative. “We know that that’s problematic, because there’s a magnification of heat that occurs in those spaces, because of the preponderance of heat-retaining surfaces that then release that heat at night, when the body seeks to cool off.”

If a heat wave stretches day after day, the physiological stress builds and builds on residents. Elderly and young people are especially at risk, since their bodies can’t cool themselves as efficiently. Extreme heat also leads to the formation of ozone, which exacerbates asthma.

For the new study, published in the International Journal of Biometeorology, de Guzman’s team looked at four different LA heat waves between 2006 and 2010—the same ones were also referred to in the previous study on mortality. These heat waves differed in their length, high temperatures, and humidity. (The higher the humidity, the more difficult it is for the human body to cool off by sweating.) The team then married this data with land-use data showing where in LA County there’s good tree cover, which reflects heat, and where there are impermeable surfaces like pavement, which absorb it. And lastly, they got data on heat-related ER visits in those areas.

They plugged all that data into an algorithm that modeled scenarios in which modifying the urban environment—with more reflective surfaces and more trees—could lower temperatures and avoid those heat-related ER visits. With 25 percent more tree cover, visits might decline by 7 to 45 percent. Bumping that up to 50 percent more tree cover, the heat-related ER visits decline by 19 to 58 percent. And then if LA were to max out its allowable tree cover—40 percent of its total area—those visits would drop by 24 to 66 percent.

“We are able to quantify how outcomes would have been different in real events,” says de Guzman. “I know that projections are for a higher number of extreme heat days in each of these communities.”

In other words: The time to act is now. Tall trees provide shade, for one, but plants in general release water vapor as they photosynthesize, essentially “sweating.” Accordingly, a high-income neighborhood with lots of parks and landscaping might be 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than a low-income, more industrialized area—like so many health threats, heat disproportionately affects those who are the most deprived. The urban heat island effect varies not only from neighborhood to neighborhood, but also from block to block and even house to house. Different building materials, like wood and brick, absorb and retain the sun’s energy in different ways.

So the utility of this kind of research is to first of all find whole neighborhoods to prioritize for greening, but then to target specific places to put single trees. “We don’t necessarily in urban areas plant entire forests—we plant an individual tree at a time,” says Portland State University climate adaptation scientist Vivek Shandas, who studies the heat island effect but wasn’t involved in the new research. “If you have a limited amount of funds, and you know where there’s going to be the highest impact from the deployment of this, it’s a no-brainer to be able to identify those locations.”

But it’s not as easy as just sticking a bunch of trees in the ground and calling it a day. LA has embarked on a multiyear Urban Forest Management Plan to increase its tree canopy, especially in its most vulnerable neighborhoods. It has to carefully identify locations to add the plants, but also collaborate with the residents there—for instance, with community feedback meetings. Some people might not want trees outside their home: Maybe a branch once fell on their car, or their sidewalk cracked from underlying roots, reducing the mobility of a grandparent in a wheelchair.

So getting more trees in the urban landscape is also about collaboration and education, getting folks to understand the significant cooling benefits that could well save their lives—and, at the very least, reduce their air-conditioning bills. “If you have a negative tree story, we have to do some education on how we’re going to do better in the future,” says Rachel Malarich, the City Forest Officer of Los Angeles. “How we’ve learned as an industry is to be more selective about what we put where, and make it appropriate for the site, or to change the site so that we can plant something larger.” For example, if a given patch of dirt is too small to fit a tree species big enough to provide good shade, perhaps the city could rework the sidewalks to accommodate that, simultaneously improving mobility and reducing local temperatures.

In LA and elsewhere, scientists are rushing to find tree species that’ll be able to withstand temperatures 10, 15, 20 years from now—you wouldn’t want to plant a tree only to discover it can’t survive in the new climate. Climate change may also help tree pests and diseases spread, adding yet more precarity to urban greenery: A given community might be keen on planting more of their neighborhood’s trademark species of tree—magnolias or what have you—but the future may be increasingly hostile to it.

A tree also needs more maintenance and water in its vulnerable early years, a resource that may be in increasingly short supply as Southern California warms. So in addition to increasing its tree cover, LA is trying to make itself spongier: Lots more green spaces in general that allow rainwater to soak into the underlying aquifer or cisterns for later extraction. Back in February, this spongy infrastructure helped the city capture 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater over just three days.

Being an urban environment with pedestrians, cars, and buildings under the trees, the city has to ensure that the plants aren’t dropping branches. That means inspections and boots on the ground—unlike a proper forest, the urban forest needs constant attention. “We have to manage a little bit higher-touch in an urban environment, because we have these risk factors,” says Malarich. “We want to do planting, maintenance, and then preservation. So keeping existing mature trees in place is actually really critical to canopy expansion.”

And a neighborhood doesn’t have to stop at adding extra trees to mitigate the urban heat island effect. Scientists are researching ways to grow crops on rooftops, shaded by solar panels, which produces both food and free electricity as well as cooling the top floor of a building. And extra points if it’s a “blue-green roof” capable of storing rainwater for residents to use to water plants and flush toilets.

Scientists are also experimenting with “cool pavements,” which bounce more sunlight back into space instead of absorbing it. Reflective coatings do the same for the sides and rooftops of buildings. Painting more surfaces white helps cool an area, but urban designers have to take care not to unintentionally bounce that reflected solar radiation toward people. “I’m a big fan of white paints up high,” says Shandas. “That’s what clouds do naturally: On a cloudy day, a lot of that sunlight is already reflected back up into space. And so if we can get every roof in some way a lighter color, we can start moving in that direction.”

It’s not a matter of whether LA or any other city will be greener or more reflective in the years to come, but how much greener and more reflective it can manage to be. And accordingly, how many lives it can save as the world warms. “While it’s generally a feel-good kind of investment for cities, we need to tie those investments to public health outcomes,” says de Guzman, “because the improvements that can be made are really meaningful.”

[sleepydrabbles]

Things I Have Been Obsessed With:

Wings

Scars

Injury

Pain

Loneliness

Description of Emotion

Manga (as a specific art form)

Anime (as a specific art form)

Bakugan

D Gray Man

Pokemon

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Horses

Japanese (the language, yes.)

Describing personal experience

Money (not in the fun get-rich-quick way, no)

Drawing

Writing Original Stories

Writing Fanfiction (yes, that’s a different art form entirely)

Photography (of small things)

Organization (konmari’d the fuck out of my room three times)

Social Connection (I’ve elaborated on this too many times to explain here)

Astrology (Babylonian, Chinese, Personality Typing, etc.)

Random Generators (using them)

The floor (my RA has a photo of me lying on the dorm floor because I still find it nice and grounding)

Religion (mostly Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, some Ancient Egyptian. Never got around to the Catholic Saints but it was a desire)

Piano (quit because brother stole my piano book and hid it for ‘being annoying’)

Fairy Idol Kanon (it’s a real series I swear)

Happy Happy Clover (manga)

Pandora Hearts

My Hero Academia

Genshin Impact

Books (Book Hoarding, Dragon Style)

Dragons

How to Train Your Dragon

Rise of the Guardians

BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan, Beyond the Scene, etc.)

SEVENTEEN (kpop group)

Fashion (continues to baffle me)

Stretching (Inherited super stiff, tense muscles and wanted to be able to touch my toes)

Pilates

Haikyuu

Aikatsu (anime)

Nest Building (as in bedding, comfy clothes, etc.)

Food experimentation (not anything wild. Grapes and yogurt wrapped up in a tortilla was pretty good)

the details TM (apparently. I get told frequently that I notice the little things. I do not think they are little things. I continue to miss things my mother finds obvious.)

Tragedy (why the fuck did I read so many books about people suffering and getting hurt as a teenager. I can’t stand true crime, but I did read “Reviving Ophelia” by Mary Pipher and it did some serious damage)

Music (as a listener. I was looking for a vibe that I have now found successfully many times over but still can’t describe to people, lmao)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

Harry Potter (spare me. I was eleven.)

The Fire Within Series by Chris D’Lacey (just checked to make sure I didn’t hallucinate it)

Mistborne Series by Brandon Sanderson

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (my copy is a wreck of notes and underlined parts)

Studio Ghibli Movies (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, Song of the Heart)

Avatar the Last Airbender

Tourist Spots in Japan (I’ve since discovered through personal experience that the normal city streets are my favorite)

“Aesthetics”, as in the practice of throwing together a bunch of photos with similar color schemes and themes and calling it a summary of a vibe

Eve’s Music (JPOP)

Yoasobi’s Music (JPOP)

Kenshi Yonezu’s Music (JPOP)

Aimer’s Music (JPOP)

Teddy Bears and stuffed animals

Stickers

Swimming

My Little Pony

Littlest Petshop

Barbie

American Girl Doll

Vague Endings to Stories

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

Found Family

LGBTQ+ Labels and Groupings

Gender Presentation

Yaoi

Throwback Lists of 2000s Dance Songs

Character Playlists (That spotify thing where you name a playlist ‘[character] vibes’ and fill it with songs you think could be their theme)

Fairies (specifically that one book of flower fairies that’s really old and cute and seasonal)

Elves

being a Good Student TM (grades looked great! Other stuff not so much)

Human Biology

Drawing Manga Style

The Concept of Art

#this is an exercise in self awareness #mostly because I tend to classify all my interests #into easy-to-understand umbrellas #like manga #anime #etc #but the reality is #I was obsessed with certain features of the thing #and a lot of people find themselves put off #when they go to have a typical fan conversation with me #and I start taking tangent after tangent #until we’ve gone in circles together

[stimmy--cryptid]

got sent a tiktok where one of our gifs of ourselves was used in the thumbnail + beginning of the video. gentle reminder in case anyone sees this that we're all very uncomfortable with our homemade gifs, esp when it includes us in the video and isnt just of objects, being reuploaded off of tumblr at all :[ ty!!

-🥬

#esp without credit </3 pls dont put your @ over top of one of our homemade gifs #i dont feel too comfy with video/gifs of us being reuploaded off tumblr #we include that disclaimer in all of our homemade gif posts bc of this #ik a lot of people just like. take gifs off pinterest or off stimboards without bothering to check #this is just like a gentle plea to please check the sources on the gifs you use and to properly credit your gifs #theres more to say on this topic than a quick 1am tag rant on a post abt smth else #but theres a really big problem with not checking sources and not crediting within the stim community and especially off of tumblr #like people who just steal off of pinterset and google images and then say 'oh idk i saved this forever ago' or 'its from google' #not to be rude but also fully to be firm its so easy to credit your gifs and sources it takes us maybe 20 minutes at most to link a board #and its so easy when you go in with the intent to link it. just like the posts you download gifs from or open them in another tab #if youre using desktop firefox has such a quick extention to reverse image search and the results will pull up the original post+ #+or the tags on a post that used the same gif to make it so easy to find the original #if youre gonna make stimboards that include someone elses content #be it homemade gifs or gifs you made from someone elses video #or even gifs made of a third party video you downloaded off tumblr or pinterest or google images #you *need* to credit the creator #and respect the boundaries of the creator. #we make sure the stuff we upload on any blog isnt harmful at all. that animals in gifs are respected that creators arent awful that+ #+the video isnt made using generative ai. and like. not saying everyone has to go to those lengths. just that its doable and so easy #theres really no excuse to plagiarize and take a gif someone made of themselves and put your own url on it #even if you made the compilation its so easy to just *also* add the op's url + platform in somewhere else visible on the image #and its also so easy to like. go to the website google images is showing you for the image or reverse search the pinterest post #to make sure the creator is ok with their own video of themselves being posted on tiktok #:/ #not stim #mod talk

[medicinemane]

And maybe you'll be like "but if you don't trust businesses, how can you trust welfare?"

I fucking don't. My mom trying to get on food stamps fucked me up because a lady I never met without my permission got my SSN from my mom and started editing my files. My heart still races to this very second whenever I think about it, it kinda messed me up bad and I'll never ever ever see any kind of recourse

And I'm terrified that I'm gonna lose my medicaid just cause I inherited some money from my grandpa

And I've never even applied for disability cause it kinda doesn't matter finding out if I'd qualify or not cause of my depression, when the rules are so restrictive I don't know if I've even be allowed to keep my house

I do not fucking trust these things on a personal level. I feel like out of a lot of people I have the most to fear from them cause I'm on the edge of having things work, and that gets you punished

...but I need medicaid in order to have insurance (and when you strip out the finance side of medicaid, I love medicaid... they're honestly incredible insurance... I just... I just... dental is like 90% of why medicaid is so important to me, ever since I found out this state pays for it I've actually been able to do cleanings which is important to me cause I can't always get myself to brush)

And I think things like disability and food stamps are pretty damn important on a personal level, and honestly are also good for the economy cause they get people spending... it's practically a free cash infusion into the economy, cause these are people who need to buy stuff

There's just so much important stuff welfare does that it's worth dealing with government

No, what I want is more accountability so if someone gets my SSN from a 3rd party like my mom they're held to HIPPA styles standards where that's not ok to access my files without my permission (She changed my fucking address and tried to get medicaid to investigate me for fraud! Never even met me)

Like have some accountability there and in every situation

Secondly I want less punitive focused rules. I'd frankly prefer bezos get on disability than smack down some poor sod cause they got $2000 in the bank or cause their friend lets them live with them for free

If there's gonna be a cut off on these programs, it needs to be a solid step above the poverty line, cause... by definition I assume poverty line denotes kinda the minimum expected income people can reasonably live off of, and if you take away benefits people are gonna lose a chunk of money to covering that stuff themself, so you need a buffer before you kick people off

I don't fucking trust the government for a second, I've actively been fucked by them and on a personal level I avoid everything but medicaid and only that cause everything but the money is pleasant to deal with and I kinda need it (honestly if I was rich I'm not even kidding that I'd rather give medicaid like $400 a month than some insurance company, I sincerely like them as insurance)

But I'd trust them a lot more if they were less punitive, less out to hunt me down and gut me cause someone handed me a fiver or cause I started to get on my feet, and if government employees had concrete rules they had to follow that were actually transparent and enforced

Like 90% of my problems with welfare go away if they're held accountable and there's less "catch the welfare cheats" mentality going around

I don't trust the government in the slightest, but sadly there some jobs it kinda has to do, so I'd just rather force it to be an open book where the public can keep an eye on it and if they step out of line there's consequences (sort of like I don't trust most mega corps but happen to sometimes need stuff from them... did you know literally every cell service provider has been illegally selling shit like your location data to random people like bounty hunters, and the FCC just slapped them with a fine that's 0.02% of their yearly incomes and debated even doing that? I even can offer a source on that)

...I don't trust much of any authority cause they constantly fail me and kinda screw me. Don't trust doctors either, but I still gotta go to them, you know? ...they're just... they're real bad at listening... so many systems need systemic change

(You know who I really don't trust is the cops. I could point to so many examples. My uncle doesn't trust cops either, and he's an ex Fire and SWAT paramedic, he worked with them and we still got into a long conversation where he basically tore into them far better than I can)

(I don't trust authority that's not accountable)

#anyway; if I'm a lousy cheat or whatever least they can do is give me a gun so I can solve that problem #shit makes me wish I was canadian so I could take advantage of their sick implementation of assisted suicide #what should be a system that gives people a choice about the quality of their life; and I don't think should be relegated to terminal illne #...there was... think he was dutch; had been burned by his girlfriend all over his body; was in constant pain #and he ended up using assisted suicide in the end cause he was just in constant agony... think that's his choice to make #but of course the canadian system concretely pushes people; mostly the poor and disabled; to kill themselves #not theoretically; as in literally says word for word to them 'you should really kill yourself; just sign here' #it's sick; it truly is #but for any americans that want to dunk on it; I'm telling you we're no better #we have the exact same miserable desperation and people (again; mostly poor and disabled) into despair #only difference is we don't offer assisted suicide #the underlying issues in the US and canada are so damn similar; so much of what's happening ends up being the same #you can't act smug just cause you only make people want to die instead of also offering to help #that's like saying that you're the good guy cause while you did everything you could to drive someone to the brink #get them fired; slash their tires; just cartoon level villain stuff to personally harass this person... at least you won't hand them rope #we have such similar systemic issues to canada; and I am explicitly telling you that like the people in canada that have said #'I can't take it anymore; disability doesn't cover my expenses and I can't get any help... I'm at my wits end so I'm gonna go die' #I'm telling you that I feel that same way; just without any eugenics agency I can call up #I'm really working to get things stable; but it feels like I'm teetering on the edge of falling into permanent failure #and... and I'll actually tell you the amount even though I don't like to mention money... makes me feel guilty #my gramps left me $27k; which sounds like a lot; but I got 20 windows that need redoing (house has a lot of windows) #...if they ended up being 1k each; that's most of the money gone; if they end up being more... #and I got a whole lotta other stuff I've been putting off like plumbing around here; need to replace that faucet #it's an amount of money that helps; but it's an amount of money that isn't gonna last #...that's like a year of bills; and my mom already needs me to pay like $400 to the propane bill since she got behind #I want to use it to... to try and really get my feet on the ground; but it might loose me my insurance... it makes me want to die #and not to be a selfish bastard; but if I could I'd like to try and take and invest a bit to maybe build some passive income #given that... that a job never seems to work out for me cause I fucking suck and cause like... my insomnia has me up at 5:30 am right now #mm tag so i can find things later

[regrettable-username]

So I respect that many people view Wednesday as a lesbian/sapphic but I've been seeing a lot of people use this to bash aro and/or ace headcannons. While hc wars are awful no matter what the context, it's honestly pretty brutal to see so many people being strictly against aro/ace wednesday in particular. aro/ace wednesday is really something people should pay attention to and understand, especially since it makes sense for her character thematically

This is a coming-of-age story. The main growth that Wednesday experiences is learning to trust, care for, and lean on others. This is an important lesson no doubt, but she does this while still retaining who she is. She's macabre, stoic, gothic, intellectual, competitive—all of these things are still a fundamental part of her even after this maturation. But with most coming-of-age stories, the lack (or blatant disgust) of romantic/sexual desire is "grown out of" in favor of romantic/sexual love. Aro/ace-ness (whether named as such or not) are constantly viewed as childish, or a moral failing—something that must be left behind in order to grow as a person. Wednesday grows so much in this first season, but she also retains the most unconventional parts of who she is. Her explicit desire in the first episode is to never marry and never have children—sure, this could change into sapphic love. But it could also remain the same, and be something she holds onto just as fiercely as her macabre nature.

Believe what you want about who wednesday is and isn't attracted to, but stop tearing down aro/ace wednesday

#so this is my possibly regrettable dip into discourse yikes #but i also wanna just say that even tho i put aro and ace identities into this post ARO IS ESPECIALLY RELEVANT #1) the show is and will likely remain completely non-sexual and thus the onscreen rep would be the romantic orientation #2) a lot of people use ace headcanons as a 'compromise' when they feel like they need to acknowledge aspec identities #like they want to pat themselves on the back for including aspec-ness but don't want to give up their ship #which is kinda disrespectful to both aces and aros i feel?? #i know some people genuinely have put a lot of thought into lesbian ace headcanons or have the same experience themselves #this is not about yall #honestly this has just become a bit of a rant that i hope isnt coming off too harshly #i just hate people finding reasons for 'why wednesday is definitely not aro/ace' #rather than 'this is why i support my personal headcannon!'

[mencnfire]

♦ ☀ ✂ ❣ ❧

ilyilyilyilyily

the salty af munday meme

♦ What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

being kind of lowkey stalked? or at least, i assume as much - by someone i've had to block across blogs. i just don't understand that? i've always been open about saying, like, if you wanna ask why you've been blocked - go for it. but block evading by following me on alts is bizarre? i don't understand the end game there. idk, mildly annoying but not like...awful. just a little strange.

☀ What's your rp pet peeve?

i'm very much over those blogs that are aesthetics with zero threading / character interaction. every post is either an ooc ramble or a little 'my character likes x lol' - i feel it defeats the purpose of rp. i've been mutuals in the past with someone who would constantly post interest calls, starter calls, inbox calls and then ooc posts / these one liners about their muse. what got me was that every post felt very baity. like, these short posts are, ultimately. they're an easy way for likes / comments without putting in a tonne of effort.

i guess, i'm just not a fan of the low effort style. & this is coming from someone whose head hasn't been in the game the last few weeks.

i think i just feel that people can run their blogs however they want but, they shouldn't expect everyone to like it.

✂ A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting?

resident evil. 500000000000%. and it's a shame because there are a lot of very nice people /in/ that fandom. i feel, as individuals, the fandom is lovely but as a group - it feels a very hostile and anxiety-inducing environment. like, i've never joined a fandom and immediately felt scoffed at - but that fandom made me feel that way.

there's this vibe of like 'if you don't write a character a certain way, you're not valid' and it's beyond gross. certain portrayals are treated as gospel, while other - just as good - portrayals are shunned and scoffed at. it's a very gross environment. i've had conversations with multiple people from the fandom who feel the same thing & it's just a crying shame that so many re lovers will be disuaded by a small group of people.

my re mutuals here are the lovely ones - like, i've had nothing but good experiences with them and i /adore/ their portrayals. we're all resident evil lovers and we embrace it. others in the fandom? not so much, the elitism is genuinely saddening.

❣ How salty are you feeling right now?

a little salty. i've not been feeling too hot the last week & it's making me antsy - you know the feelin', i'd hit you up to rant but i want u to be taking it easy cause i think ur cute.

❧ Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

nah. jealousy's a gross thing i don't waste time on - i admire a lot of people & always try to see the best in people. people i don't like very much i just ignore. but nah, jealousy's never been a thing for me. even in my relationship, i don't do it. it's not worth the energy & is way better to just be happy for peeps

#(answered) #(ooc) #(saltymeme) #me just @ing the re fandom like wot u gonna o about it dslngkndg #for real tho theres a lot of goodness there there is just this subset of people who have put themselves on a podium and literally #the way they treat others is eye rollingly gross #i dont mind people having cliques and mates but theres this mentality of like #you ARE the only chris/jill/leon etc #and if you dont fit that mould someone else sets for you 'youre not goodenough' #and the thing is i wouldnt be super salty if it was just me #for me i just find it shitty #BUT ive had multiple people tell me the same and feel the same and /that/ annoys me #(ooc) | your right hand comes off

[zooophagous]

So why do you hate the advertising industry?

Hokay so.

Let me preface this with some personal history. It's not relevant to the sins of the advertising industry perse but it illustrates how I started to grow to hate it.

I wanted to be a veterinarian growing up, but to be a vet you basically have to be good enough to get into medical school. I do not have the math chops or discipline to make it in medical school. I went into art instead, and in a desperate attempt to find some commercial viability that didn't involve moving to California, I went into graphic design.

I've been a graphic designer for about seven or eight years now and I've worn a lot of hats. One of them was working in a print shop. Now, the print shop had a lot of corporate customers who had various ad campaigns. One of them was Gate City Bank, which had a bigass stack of postcards ordered every couple months to mail to their customers.

Now, paper comes from Dakota Paper, and they make their paper the usual way. Somewhere far, far from our treeless plain there is a forest of tall trees. These trees are cut down and put on big fossil fuel burning trucks and hauled to a paper mill that turns them into pulp while spewing the most fowl odors imaginable over the neighboring town and loads the pulp up with bleach to give it a nice white color.

Then the paper is put on yet another big truck and hauled off to the local paper depot, then put on another big truck and delivered to my print shop, where I turned the paper into postcards telling people to go even deeper into debt to buy a boat because it's almost summer. The inks used are a type of nasty heat sensitive plastic that is melted to the surface of the paper with heat. Then the postcards are put on yet ANOTHER truck and sent to the bank, which puts them on ANOTHER truck and finally into the hands of their customers, who open their mail and take one look at the post card and immediately discard it.

Heaps and heaps and literal hundreds of pounds of literal garbage created at the whim of the marketing team several times a year. And thats just one bank in one city.

I came to realize very quickly that graphic design was the delicate art of turning trees into junk mail.

And wouldn't you know it there are a TON of companies that basically only do junk mail. Many of them operate under the guise of a "charity," sending you pictures of suffering children or animals and begging for handouts and when they get those handouts the executives take a nice fat cut, give some small token amount to whatever cause they pay lip service to, and then put the rest of the cash right back into making more mailers. "Direct mail marketing" they call it.

Oh but maybe it's not so bad, you can advertise online after all. Now that there's decent ad blocker out there and better anti-virus ads usually don't destroy your computer anymore just by existing.

Except now when I search for the exact business I want on Google it's buried under three or four different "promoted search items" tricking me into clicking on them only to shoot themselves in the foot because I searched for the specific result I wanted for a reason and couldn't use those other websites even if I felt like it.

And now we have advertising on YouTube and on every streaming service, forcing more and more eyes onto the ad for the brand new Buick Envision that parks itself because you're too stupid to do it on your own.

Oh thats ok maybe I'll get Spotify premium and go ad free and listen to some podcasts- SIKE we have the hosts of your show doing the song and dance now. Are you depressed and paranoid from listening to my true crime podcast about murdered and mutilated teenagers? That's ok, my sponsor Better Help can keep you sane enough to stay alive and spend more money.

It's gotten so terrible that now you have content farms, huge hubs of shell companies that crank out video after video to get more and more precious clicks. Which if the videos were innocuous maybe that wouldn't be so awful except now you have cooking hacks that can actually burn your house down and craft hacks that can electrocute you being flung into your eyes at the speed of mach fuck so some slimy internet clickbait jockey doesn't need to get a real job.

It of course goes without saying that animals are also relentlessly exploited by clickbait companies that will put them in compromising situations on purpose to create a fake fishing hack video or even just straight up killing them for sport by feeding small animals to a pufferfish that rips them apart for the camera.

And all of this, ALL of this doesn't even touch how adveritising is the death of art in general. Queer topics, any kind of interesting art, any kind of sex or substance use topics are scrubbed clean and hidden at the behest of advertisers.

Sex education, a nude statue, topics such as racism or sexism or bigotry in general have tags purged or hidden from search, even life saving information about SDTs or drug use, because if someone saw that and complained then Verizon might sell fewer tablets and we can't fucking have that.

Conservative talking heads often bitch and moan that they're being censored on social media. The stupid part is, they're right! They are being censored! But it's not by a woke mob, it's by ATT and Coca Cola not wanting their adspace sharing screen time with their stupid fucking opinions.

However, they won't ever figure that out, because the talking heads they get their marching orders from like Tucker and Jones ALSO rely on the sweet milk flowing from the sponsorship teat and they aren't about to turn on their meal ticket so they have to come up with even stupider shit to say for the train to continue rolling.

I managed to rant this far without even getting into the ads I see for the beauty industry. The other day a botox ad described wrinkles as "moderate to severe crows feet" as if wrinkles are a symptom of a fucking serious disease! Like having a flaw in your skin is a medical problem that you need thousands of dollars of literal botulism toxin to fix! I was incandescent with anger.

Advertising is a polluting, censoring, anti educational and anti art industry at it's very core. It destroys human connections, suppresses human thought and makes us hate our own bodies. It ads no value, actively detracts from value, and serves no real purpose and I believe it should be almost if not entirely banned.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny was enjoying himself. His new haunt was suprisingly spacious and came with lots of charges who needed protection and care.

The old butler guy, Alfred, seemed to at least have an idea of what was going on. He had been making extra food lately and leaving it out for Danny to eat in a secluded area. Danny always made sure to turn the plate invisible and sneak it back to his hidden passage panic room before he started eating.

In return, Danny made sure to do lots of chores around the manor. Intangibility and wind manipulation made dusting super easy if you knew how to use it right.

Danny also took his job as a guardian spirit seriously. He overheard the bats fighting about not wanting to be coddled on patrol and decided it was best to let them handle themselves outside of the manor. Danny himself hated when people stuck thier noses into his business.

Jazz had screwed him over countless times with her good intentions.

But the manor was different. This was his new haunt after his old one kicked him out. This family had invited him in whether they knew it or not. Also, since the Fentons and GIW don't exist in this world, they'd have a hell of a time kicking him out.

It's best not to let it come to that. So Danny had to make these people love him the way Amity Park never did.

The Wayne's however are rather dense. You would think them being the worlds greatest detectives would mean something, but they kept silently blaming each other for things happening around the manor until they couldn't.

A book being put away when they were done with it or their messes being cleaned up when they came back into a room could be easily explained by how many people lived there. The family entering the dining room, discussing what they were going to order for dinner since Alfred was gone for a week only to find a full meal waiting for them on the diner table? They couldn't brush that off.

None of them could cook.

#dpxdc #prompts #fanfiction prompts #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #danny haunting the waynes #but was like a protection spirit #hes basically a secret butler #Bruce is losing it #the bats are wary of the food and Danny's just like: I worked hard on that! You better eat it!

[masterhallmark]

Rant incoming

I feel like the problem with a lot of Disney's live action remakes (and arguably Wish) is they're trying to appeal to a crowd that no longer exists, namely the people who used to claim that the Disney Princesses were sexist.

All the interviews tend to include, "Well she's not chasing a MAN anymore" which...almost no one sees the princesses like that, anymore. Virtually NO ONE still believes the princesses are man-chasing sexist caricatures of women.

Cinderella is now hailed as an abuse victim who stayed strong long enough to get help to get out of her situation. Anyone who says she should have saved herself is basically regarded as a victim blamer. And it's very clear in the film she wasn't looking to marry the prince, she just wanted a night off. She was the only one who wasn't in line to meet him. She didn't find out she met the prince until he went looking for her!

Snow White is now hailed for her negotiation skills, ability to calm down after extreme stress (she had a moment of panic and had to cry for a bit, but who wouldn't after finding out The Queen hired someone to kill you?), and ability to take charge of a house of adult men. And again, she was an abuse victim, this time trying to escape ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS. While she dreamed of her prince, it was secondary to her main goal of SURVIVAL. There are also entire video essays about how Snow White gave hope to people during The Great Depression.

Everyone acknowledges that Ariel wanted to be human BEFORE meeting Eric. We all know she was a nerd hyperfixating on humans, and also standing up to her prejudiced father.

We understand Sleeping Beauty wasn't the main character, the Three Good Fairies were, AND PHILLIP WOULD NEVER HAVE BEATEN MALEFICENT WITHOUT THEM! He literally depended on them! WOMEN SAVED THE DAY! But even then, is it really such a sin for a girl to fantasize about romance and fall for someone with corny pickup lines?

We all understand Jasmine just wanted someone to treat her LIKE A PERSON. She rejected every Prince before Aladdin because they treated her like a prize. So why did they need her to want to be Sultan? How did that make her more feminist when she already wanted to be treated like an equal and have a say in her future? Is it only empowering if you want a career in politics?

We admire that Belle, despite living in a judgemental village, was kind to everyone (even though she found the village life dull), and her story teaches girls that the guy everyone else loves isn't always a good guy. What's sexist about teaching girls about red flags? And she didn't start being nice to The Beast until he started treating her with respect and kindness.

Do I really NEED to defend Mulan or Tiana? I think they speak for themselves.

Rapunzel was yet another abuse victim who just needed a little help to get out of her bad situation. In this case, she also needed to learn that she was an abuse victim, and that what Mother Gothel did WASN'T normal, much like many victims of gaslighting.

And don't get me started on the non-princess animals.

Perdita had a healthy relationship with Pongo to the point she was open to express her pregnancy fears to him, and was ready to TEAR APART Cruella's goons for daring to touch her puppies as well as adopting the other puppies. Like, she was so ferocious the goons mistook her for a hyena! She's basically that "I AM THAT GIRL'S MOTHER!" scene from SpyXFamily if Yor were a dog. She and her husband were a TEAM.....but they made a Cruella live action to turn her into a girlboss?! The literal animal abuser!? THAT'S the woman you wanted to put on a pedestal when Perdita was RIGHT THERE!?

Duchess kept her kittens calm after they had been catnapped and was classy as heck. Nice to everyone regardless of social class during a time period where that was uncommon.

Lady stood up to Tramp when she believed he had abandoned her and didn't really care about her. She found out he was a heartbreaker and was like, "Nuh uh. No. You are not doing that to me! You put me through enough."

Miss Bianca from The Rescuers was IN CHARGE the whole movie, and was willing to risk life and limb to save an innocent child. THAT TINY MOUSE TOOK ON ALLIGATORS! And she picked Bernard to accompany her because he was the only one who wasn't ogling her. And then in the sequel SHE DID IT ALL AGAIN! I wish I were as brave as her.

Like, the public haven't accused these ladies of being sexist caricatures since 2014 (Actresses and actors don't count, they're out of touch like the rest of Hollywood) yet Disney is operating under the assumption that the public still thinks that way, hence all the "sHe'S nOt AfTeR a MaN iN ThIs VeRsIOn" talk.

The live action remakes are trying to attract an audience that doesn't really exist much, anymore, and back when it did exist, was comprised mainly of people who didn't actually watch the films. The Disney princesses are no longer seen as sexist, and feminine qualities are no longer seen as weak or undesirable.

#the rescuers #disney #101 dalmatians #perdita #miss bianca #rapunzel #tangled #princess and the frog #tiana #the three good fairies #flora #merriweather #fauna #snow white #sleeping beauty #Cinderella #ariel #the little mermaid #beauty and the beast #belle #aristocats #duchess #lady and the tramp #jasmine #aladdin #long #wish

[astro-rainbow777]

♈︎ 𝔄𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔰 ♈︎

✶ Aries in 1st: Being ruled by the planet Mars, these natives give a bold and invigorating first impression. What you see is what you get with Aries in the first- they have a raw and honest personality- which can be off putting for some people because it can be taken as rude depending on the person/situation- but I have to say you must admire them for being so tenacious and authentic in nature. I can hands down say the best quality about Aries in the first is what you see is what you get! They have a strong ego here, are not ashamed of their behaviors, body or personality - regardless of what others say to or about them. ✶ Aries in 2nd: Bold spenders, can be quick to have, give away and lose money. Fleeting self worth and values- can feel and act confident one hour and then shy and shameful the next. Values honesty, integrity and sense of self- this may be because they don’t have the greatest sense of self. Believes that kids and the younger generations have the most value in the world. Having children of their own could be of the greatest importance- OR (and this is a big or) they could never want kids and value connecting to their inner child and independence greatly. It’s one or the other. Can feel at war with their finances and self worth.

✶ Aries in 3rd: Athletic and popular in middle school/high school. Known for their leadership skills and qualities amongst their peers, classmates, cousins and siblings. Can be the youngest of their siblings or babied by others. Intellectually motivated, driven and competitive. Impulsive and passionate in their speech. May say things for shock value or improv their actual knowledge. Finds stimulation in an intellectual debate and arguing. It’s hard to win an argument with these people because they speak so quickly- their arguing style is just backing people into a corner mentally, they don’t give up easily. However, they can regret things that they say when they are angry or upset.

✶ Aries in 4th: Huge indicator of raising yourself as a kid. Family required you to be very active, you could be the most successful in your family as an adult because of this. Family is a point of weakness for you, mainly because they possess a lot of “childish” qualities. You may feel like your parents/guardians were big babies and never grew up. You could put a lot of energy towards your family, but could have a shorter fuse with them over all people. You may be the youngest out of your entire family. Your family could be competitive with you our vise versa. Your family could be the start of your “Villan Arc” 💀- your family may have childish values, argue a lot or they may be a “board game family”. TW - Worst case scenario- violence in the home.

✶ Aries in 5th: Play fights when flirting, aggressive flirters, acts like they hate their crush. I have this placement lmaooo and I LOVE to play fight with my man- like btch?! You wanna go!?!?!? It’s so much fun to me and usually leads to s*xies ayyye. But that’s definitely a me thing, I love to talk smack to my significant other- that’s how it’s always been. Being competitive, NO BORING DATES EVER! Known to have secs on the first date. Passionate- goooood lovers. Either wants to have kids right away or doesn’t want kids at all- this I huge independence thing that keeps them from not wanting to have kids. You can’t be the baby, if you have a baby! Commitment issues.

✶ Aries in 6th: Enjoys active routines and work place. Known to work in establishments with competitive pay and many enemies in work place. Can be scene as bossy by their coworkers. Needs to be weary of being hypocritical of their coworkers. Temper at work. Benefits from a workout routine. Needs to take out stress and anger from work & daily responsibilities. Can be very active or have hyper pets, may need a big back yard to run their dogs or other animals in. Competitive in health and motivated to be the best version’s of themselves. Picky with their diet and what they decide to put in their bodies. Can have an all or nothing attitude- because theirs definitely a reason why they are so picky. Usually this stems from poor self care habits and bad physical health. ✶ Aries in 7th: Passionate and assertive lovers, the fire they feel for their committed partners are unmatched. They may loose interest beyond physical lust- especially if they don’t take they time to figure out whether or not they ACTUALLY like someone. These individuals could truly find good in anyone so it’s important that they don’t project their desire for commitment onto someone else. They can date or be friends with some bold and persistent personalities- even bossy. It’s important that these natives find someone who will give them some wiggle room to find themselves. These people find out who they are through trial and error in their relationships - it’s typical for these natives to have “failed relationships” that lead them to find out what they definitely don’t like- which leads them to their ultimate truth.

✶ Aries in 8th: This gives the native a hyper-vigilant quality to the native with Aries in 8th. In the past the native may have been made to feel like they didn’t belong, maybe they were bullied, or judged for something they couldn’t control. This may lead them to be on edge, secretive and even defensive about who they are authentically. They are very protective about who they actually are because they have been hurt before- many of these people are Virgo Risings, so it’s interesting to see that this may be one of the reasons why they are so hard on themselves and receive a judgmental sort of reputation. ✶ Aries in 9th: I love this placement so much honestly, because a lot of these natives have the philosophy that they can go after anything that they want. They have a particularly strong sense of self and actually may have a hard time understanding why other people don’t go after what they want or believe in themselves and their dreams. This is a super hard working placement IMO - it gives very much that “I want it, I got it!” vibe! It’s very possible at a time in their life that no one believed in these individuals so they just had to prove themselves to the world, and that’s so beautiful.

✶ Aries in 10th: Go getters in their career- they do best when they are their own boss- they definitely don’t do well with being told what to do because of their sensitive nature. However, they have a lot of creativity and art to give to the world. They need a career that is authentic to who they- a simple 9-5 WILL NOT cut it for these people. So if you’re an Aries 10th and you’re still trying to make your boring, loveless day job work- this is why. It is not in your genetic code to be running someone else’s business 😂 you are the business starter- not finisher! Quit diminishing your own light because I know y’all are hard on yourselves regardless. Pick your hard and go after it!

✶ Aries in 11th: Leaders of the pack, these natives love bringing their friends together and being absolutely crazy with their friends. They are naturally socialites and feel their best when they are interacting in their community and collaborating with like minds. These people live for their down time, special niche hobbies and interests. They work hard to play hard. They may also have some pretty strong humanitarian values they stick by, these natives have no problem with telling people their opinion on any given situation and they really don’t care what you have to say about it 😆

✶ Aries in 12th: With Aries in the house of isolation, hidden endings, mental health, dreams and subconscious awareness- this can make a native who suppresses their anger deeply and keeps a lot of their authentic reactions to themselves. They may feel more comfortable expressing this rage internally or when they know nobody else is around. They may be completely out of touch with their anger and impulses. They could have to isolate before taking action towards their authentic desires or dreams. Dreams can be violent and they may have intense nightmares. These natives can work out their best alone- although they usually like to workout with someone, this keeps them from pushing themselves for fear of being ugly or vulnerable. They don’t like to show their struggle to others, complain or their authentic side.

Happy Aries Season Everyone! I hope you are all safe and navigating eclipse season /mercury retrograde with ease. I am making a series out of the signs in the houses. I hope y’all are enjoying my content! Love you and thank you so much for reading my content and giving me feedback. This is such a sacred study to me. It is my life.

~Kya

#astro community #astrology #astrology signs #zodiac #spirituality #aries season #aries #Aries houses

[derinwrites]

The Three Commandments

The thing about writing is this: you gotta start in medias res, to hook your readers with action immediately. But readers aren’t invested in people they know nothing about, so start with a framing scene that instead describes the characters and the stakes. But those scenes are boring, so cut straight to the action, after opening with a clever quip, but open in the style of the story, and try not to be too clever in the opener, it looks tacky. One shouldn’t use too many dialogue tags, it’s distracting; but you can use ‘said’ a lot, because ‘said’ is invisible, but don’t use ‘said’ too much because it’s boring and uninformative – make sure to vary your dialogue tags to be as descriptive as possible, except don’t do that because it’s distracting, and instead rely mostly on ‘said’ and only use others when you need them. But don’t use ‘said’ too often; you should avoid dialogue tags as much as you possibly can and indicate speakers through describing their reactions. But don’t do that, it’s distracting.

Having a viewpoint character describe themselves is amateurish, so avoid that. But also be sure to describe your viewpoint character so that the reader can picture them. And include a lot of introspection, so we can see their mindset, but don’t include too much introspection, because it’s boring and takes away from the action and really bogs down the story, but also remember to include plenty of introspection so your character doesn’t feel like a robot. And adverbs are great action descriptors; you should have a lot of them, but don’t use a lot of adverbs; they’re amateurish and bog down the story. And

The reason new writers are bombarded with so much outright contradictory writing advice is that these tips are conditional. It depends on your style, your genre, your audience, your level of skill, and what problems in your writing you’re trying to fix. Which is why, when I’m writing, I tend to focus on what I call my Three Commandments of Writing. These are the overall rules; before accepting any writing advice, I check whether it reinforces one of these rules or not. If not, I ditch it.

1: Thou Shalt Have Something To Say

What’s your book about?

I don’t mean, describe to me the plot. I mean, why should anybody read this? What’s its thesis? What’s its reason for existence, from the reader’s perspective? People write stories for all kinds of reasons, but things like ‘I just wanted to get it out of my head’ are meaningless from a reader perspective. The greatest piece of writing advice I ever received was you putting words on a page does not obligate anybody to read them. So why are the words there? What point are you trying to make?

The purpose of your story can vary wildly. Usually, you’ll be exploring some kind of thesis, especially if you write genre fiction. Curse Words, for example, is an exploration of self-perpetuating power structures and how aiming for short-term stability and safety can cause long-term problems, as well as the responsibilities of an agitator when seeking to do the necessary work of dismantling those power structures. Most of the things in Curse Words eventually fold back into exploring this question. Alternately, you might just have a really cool idea for a society or alien species or something and want to show it off (note: it can be VERY VERY HARD to carry a story on a ‘cool original concept’ by itself. You think your sky society where they fly above the clouds and have no rainfall and have to harvest water from the clouds below is a cool enough idea to carry a story: You’re almost certainly wrong. These cool concept stories work best when they are either very short, or working in conjunction with exploring a theme). You might be writing a mystery series where each story is a standalone mystery and the point is to present a puzzle and solve a fun mystery each book. Maybe you’re just here to make the reader laugh, and will throw in anything you can find that’ll act as framing for better jokes. In some genres, readers know exactly what they want and have gotten it a hundred times before and want that story again but with different character names – maybe you’re writing one of those. (These stories are popular in romance, pulp fantasy, some action genres, and rather a lot of types of fanfiction).

Whatever the main point of your story is, you should know it by the time you finish the first draft, because you simply cannot write the second draft if you don’t know what the point of the story is. (If you write web serials and are publishing the first draft, you’ll need to figure it out a lot faster.)

Once you know what the point of your story is, you can assess all writing decisions through this lens – does this help or hurt the point of my story?

2: Thou Shalt Respect Thy Reader’s Investment

Readers invest a lot in a story. Sometimes it’s money, if they bought your book, but even if your story is free, they invest time, attention, and emotional investment. The vast majority of your job is making that investment worth it. There are two factors to this – lowering the investment, and increasing the payoff. If you can lower your audience’s suspension of disbelief through consistent characterisation, realistic (for your genre – this may deviate from real realism) worldbuilding, and appropriately foreshadowing and forewarning any unexpected rules of your world. You can lower the amount of effort or attention your audience need to put into getting into your story by writing in a clear manner, using an entertaining tone, and relying on cultural touchpoints they understand already instead of pushing them in the deep end into a completely unfamiliar situation. The lower their initial investment, the easier it is to make the payoff worth it.

Two important notes here: one, not all audiences view investment in the same way. Your average reader views time as a major investment, but readers of long fiction (epic fantasies, web serials, et cetera) often view length as part of the payoff. Brandon Sanderson fans don’t grab his latest book and think “Uuuugh, why does it have to be so looong!” Similarly, some people like being thrown in the deep end and having to put a lot of work into figuring out what the fuck is going on with no onboarding. This is one of science fiction’s main tactics for forcibly immersing you in a future world. So the valuation of what counts as too much investment varies drastically between readers.

Two, it’s not always the best idea to minimise the necessary investment at all costs. Generally, engagement with art asks something of us, and that’s part of the appeal. Minimum-effort books do have their appeal and their place, in the same way that idle games or repetitive sitcoms have their appeal and their place, but the memorable stories, the ones that have staying power and provide real value, are the ones that ask something of the reader. If they’re not investing anything, they have no incentive to engage, and you’re just filling in time. This commandment does not exist to tell you to try to ask nothing of your audience – you should be asking something of your audience. It exists to tell you to respect that investment. Know what you’re asking of your audience, and make sure that the ask is less than the payoff.

The other way to respect the investment is of course to focus on a great payoff. Make those characters socially fascinating, make that sacrifice emotionally rending, make the answer to that mystery intellectually fulfilling. If you can make the investment worth it, they’ll enjoy your story. And if you consistently make their investment worth it, you build trust, and they’ll be willing to invest more next time, which means you can ask more of them and give them an even better payoff. Audience trust is a very precious currency and this is how you build it – be worth their time.

But how do you know what your audience does and doesn’t consider an onerous investment? And how do you know what kinds of payoff they’ll find rewarding? Easy – they self-sort. Part of your job is telling your audience what to expect from you as soon as you can, so that if it’s not for them, they’ll leave, and if it is, they’ll invest and appreciate the return. (“Oh but I want as many people reading my story as possible!” No, you don’t. If you want that, you can write paint-by-numbers common denominator mass appeal fic. What you want is the audience who will enjoy your story; everyone else is a waste of time, and is in fact, detrimental to your success, because if they don’t like your story then they’re likely to be bad marketing. You want these people to bounce off and leave before you disappoint them. Don’t try to trick them into staying around.) Your audience should know, very early on, what kind of an experience they’re in for, what the tone will be, the genre and character(s) they’re going to follow, that sort of thing. The first couple of chapters of Time to Orbit: Unknown, for example, are a micro-example of the sorts of mysteries that Aspen will be dealing with for most of the book, as well as a sample of their character voice, the way they approach problems, and enough of their background, world and behaviour for the reader to decide if this sort of story is for them. We also start the story with some mildly graphic medical stuff, enough physics for the reader to determine the ‘hardness’ of the scifi, and about the level of physical risk that Aspen will be putting themselves at for most of the book. This is all important information for a reader to have.

If you are mindful of the investment your readers are making, mindful of the value of the payoff, and honest with them about both from the start so that they can decide whether the story is for them, you can respect their investment and make sure they have a good time.

3: Thou Shalt Not Make Thy World Less Interesting

This one’s really about payoff, but it’s important enough to be its own commandment. It relates primarily to twists, reveals, worldbuilding, and killing off storylines or characters. One mistake that I see new writers make all the time is that they tank the engagement of their story by introducing a cool fun twist that seems so awesome in the moment and then… is a major letdown, because the implications make the world less interesting.

“It was all a dream” twists often fall into this trap. Contrary to popular opinion, I think these twists can be done extremely well. I’ve seen them done extremely well. The vast majority of the time, they’re very bad. They’re bad because they take an interesting world and make it boring. The same is true of poorly thought out, shocking character deaths – when you kill a character, you kill their potential, and if they’re a character worth killing in a high impact way then this is always a huge sacrifice on your part. Is it worth it? Will it make the story more interesting? Similarly, if your bad guy is going to get up and gloat ‘Aha, your quest was all planned by me, I was working in the shadows to get you to acquire the Mystery Object since I could not! You have fallen into my trap! Now give me the Mystery Object!’, is this a more interesting story than if the protagonist’s journey had actually been their own unmanipulated adventure? It makes your bad guy look clever and can be a cool twist, but does it mean that all those times your protagonist escaped the bad guy’s men by the skin of his teeth, he was being allowed to escape? Are they retroactively less interesting now?

Whether these twists work or not will depend on how you’ve constructed the rest of your story. Do they make your world more or less interesting?

If you have the audience’s trust, it’s permissible to make your world temporarily less interesting. You can kill off the cool guy with the awesome plan, or make it so that the Chosen One wasn’t actually the Chosen One, or even have the main character wake up and find out it was all a dream, and let the reader marinate in disappointment for a little while before you pick it up again and turn things around so that actually, that twist does lead to a more interesting story! But you have to pick it up again. Don’t leave them with the version that’s less interesting than the story you tanked for the twist. The general slop of interest must trend upward, and your sacrifices need to all lead into the more interesting world. Otherwise, your readers will be disappointed, and their experience will be tainted.

Whenever I’m looking at a new piece of writing advice, I view it through these three rules. Is this plot still delivering on the book’s purpose, or have I gone off the rails somewhere and just stared writing random stuff? Does making this character ‘more relateable’ help or hinder that goal? Does this argument with the protagonists’ mother tell the reader anything or lead to any useful payoff; is it respectful of their time? Will starting in medias res give the audience an accurate view of the story and help them decide whether to invest? Does this big twist that challenges all the assumptions we’ve made so far imply a world that is more or less interesting than the world previously implied?

Hopefully these can help you, too.